gall

hostplants

notes

Until recently leaf curls in Prunus serotina were attributed in the European literature to Taphrina deformans. However, German mycologists discovered that a separate species was involved, that in the United States commonly was associated with this plant. Surprisingly, it is almost certain that Sadebeck described the fungus in 1890 on the basis of material collected in Germany. This implies that most probably the fungus was introduced into Europe together with its host plant.

On several localities around Bergen op Zoom in 2012 heavy infestations were seen, in some cases leading to die back of the young shoots. Perhaps that the “wood pest” finally has got its biological control agent?